Well, I've lived in many cities and gone to many China towns and unfortunately, sometimes the best Chinese restaurants are not the cleanest or the best maintained places. When we moved to Guelph, I was disappointed with all the Chinese restaurants here as far as taste. But I discovered the Royal City. Totally tasty food and good prices- a first in Guelph for me. I wouldn't do buffet though and I wouldn't eat in- too depressing with décor but take-out is quite good. I got a tip that the China House in Cambridge is very good so will check it out and let you know :)

I don't normally write reviews of places I eat at because for the most part I have great times and I have other things to do.

I went to Royal City Chinese tonight as I wanted to have some nostalgia food as I hadn't eaten there in about 15 years. I am wishing I hadn't.

The price was right for a buffet on a Christmal. 11.99 per person. That's about the only thing that was right. The Decor was very dated. The place was dirty. The floors were dirty. The booths were duct taped together. The ceilings had noticible mold all over the place. My Mother and I were very hungry and we decided to chance it.

Most of the fried food was greasy as anything. The Vegetables and dishes with vegetables were adequate. The spare ribs and mushrooms were better then average.

All the desserts I had were bland except for a chocolate/cream layered cake square that was fairly decent.

I was able to fill up with what was edible but my mother wasn't. We had to go elsewhere to fill her up.

I don't recommend this place. I hear they have decent takeout but eating in is not recommended.

I have gone to this restaurant every few weeks for several years. The decor is sorely lacking. They probably haven't redecorated since the 1970s. The service is polite but minimal. They will take away your dirty plates and refill your water promptly, but not much more.

I am drawn back by the food. The selection never changes. Same items every time. Some of the items are great. Their fried rice, curry chicken, garlic chicken, won ton soup and chicken wings are very good. The rest is pretty bland, but not horrible.

I cannot speak about their take-out or delivery food. I have to guess that it is pretty good because they are always very busy with pick-ups.

Um, how can you not have call waiting when you're operating a business???? Kept trying to get through to place an order for delivery and but kept getting a busy signal??? Uh...

Finally got through, placed my order and sat down to wait. And wait, and wait. Started calling at about 45 minutes in but, yeah, you guessed it, the lines were 'busy'. An hour and a half later, managed to get through and was told that the driver was right there and he would be leaving with the food now.

An hour and a half later???? I was mad as hell. HALF AN HOUR later and he still hadn't shown up. Started calling again, busy lines greeted me. Kept trying, cause I wanted to get through to tell them to keep the food etc. Finally got through, she told me I couldn't cancel as the food was already made and the driver was at my door. But I could hear her yelling at the driver to take the food and go now. Lying heffa... I don't want it I say! We're still charging you, she responded. That'll teach me to give them my credit card info next time. Oops, what am I saying??? There will BE no next time...

Driver shows up and snarkily tells hubby that he should have' gone to pick it up instead. Wanker.

The food tasted great, but after reading below about cockroaches parading around the joint, I am now doubly distressed.

Can't believe I waited two hours for egg foo young with a hint of roach essence.

This is by far the best Chinese take out in Guelph. I've tried other places , but I keep coming back to Royal City. They have all my preferences on file: like no msg, no carrots, no cauliflower and they read it off to me every time I order to make sure it's accurate. The food is always hot and delicious. I've ordered this for many special occasions like birthdays and holidays and it always gets rave reviews. The only problem is that I can't take credit for the yummy food!

BEWARE!! Very unclean.I will preface by saying that we WERE regular customers here for many years. I used to live behind Royal City and the smell is so intoxicating you can't help but want to eat there. I was NEVER disappointed with the food. We have since moved out of Guelph but still return when we're craving Chinese - not finding any other place that comes close. But I will explain why we will never, under any circumstances, return to our FAVOURITE Chinese food restaurant. The last time we went there, sat down at the table and the kids went off to the washroom before we ordered, we were mortified to be looking at the menus and see a COCKROACH casually crawling across the table. We left the restaurant the second the kids came out of the restaurant. When we notified the girl at the front, she said "Really?" and offered no other commentary.The place has always had a less than desirable interior but we put that aside for the amazing food. Now I'm wondering what creatures are living in their kitchen and getting into the food there if the roaches are brazenly strolling across the tables in the dining area. For that reason, we will never go back.

We constantly order take out from this restaurant.The food is consistently excellent and the service is highly efficient. Price point is excellent - averaging about $11. - $12. per person with lots of left overs for the next day. "In house" dining, is a bit on the casual side for my taste, but then.... that is reflected in the price of their food. (You can't have it both ways). Take out, however, is their forte.

I have been eating at Royal City ever since Iwas a little girl, it use to be a special treat Iwould get with my grandma. I still enjoy the fast, friendly service I get each and everytime I get my food from there. Take out is always hot and fresh. Your egg rolls are to die for and so is your Royal City chow mein. I get it everytime. Thanks a bunch for the many years of great service andhope there is many more to come!!!!!

Where else can you go including ALL if the fast food places and feed your family including 2 teenaged sons (who eat like horses) for under $8 per person?...We get the single dinners and mix and match between everyone (all the dishes go onto the table and you take what you want) this works best for us. We spend about $45 for a family meal (last time we were at McD's we spent over $50 and then were hungry an hour later) Needs a renovation lil paint maybe and new flooring